Seasoned Litigator and Nonprofit Executive to Lead the 40-Year-Old Organization’s Next Chapter as its Third Executive Director 

Chicago, IL — The MacArthur Justice Center (MJC), a national, nonprofit law firm devoted to combatting and redressing injustices in the criminal legal system, is pleased to announce the appointment of David Shapiro as its next Executive Director, effective August 4, 2025. This marks a return to MJC for Mr. Shapiro, who was previously the founder and director of MJC’s highly regarded and award-winning Supreme Court and Appellate Program (SCAP). 

Mr. Shapiro brings more than two decades of experience in civil rights litigation and criminal legal advocacy, most recently serving as Executive Director at Chicago Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights, a non-partisan, non-profit group of civil rights lawyers and advocates. He is highly regarded as both a trial and appellate attorney and has devoted his career to combatting violence and racism in the criminal legal system.  

“After an extensive, six-month nationwide search process, we are very excited to invite David Shapiro back to MJC as its next Executive Director,” said David Bradford, acting President of MJC. “His brilliance as an advocate, his prior successful leadership in the organization, his commitment to diversity and the values of the organization, and his naturally collaborative management style give us confidence that under his leadership MJC will continue to act boldly and effectively in meeting the challenges that lie ahead.”

As Executive Director, Mr. Shapiro will be a visionary leader for MJC’s next era, growing the organization’s public profile and presence, and building fundraising capacity and resources for the organization. He will work closely with staff and board members to position MJC for deeper systemic and sustainable impact. 

“I’m thrilled to be coming home,” said Mr. Shapiro. “The MacArthur Justice Center has shaped my career, my values, and my understanding of what bold, principled legal advocacy can look like. I know how deeply committed this team is to fight back against the violence and racism of the criminal legal system, and I can’t wait to rejoin these passionate and dedicated advocates in the continued fight toward a legal system that treats everyone with dignity.” 

Throughout his career, Mr. Shapiro has argued civil rights cases in courts across the nation, including the U.S. Supreme Court, the Illinois Supreme Court, the Seventh Circuit, and many other appeals courts. He has won major victories on such issues as police brutality, deaths in custody, wrongful convictions, malicious prosecution, prisoners’ religious exercise, criminal sentencing, prison and jail conditions, and freedom of speech.  

Mr. Shapiro has also obtained a consent decree that restructured a jail’s censorship policies, helped to try a case that abolished the segregation of prisoners with HIV throughout the State of Alabama, obtained an injunction that struck down a state censorship law as unconstitutional, and litigated many federal cases on behalf of innocent people who were wrongfully convicted. 

A prolific writer and former Clinical Law Professor, Mr. Shapiro has published law review articles on civil rights, incarceration, and policing in the Harvard Law Review, the Notre Dame Law Review, and the George Washington Law Review, among many others, in addition to co-authoring a textbook on prisoners’ rights. Mr. Shapiro is a graduate of Harvard University and Yale Law School, and a Fulbright Scholar. 

David Shapiro is the third executive director in MJC’s 40-year history. He succeeds the Hon. Amir Ali who was MJC’s Executive Director from 2021-2024 and now serves as a judge on the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. Locke Bowman served as MJC’s Executive Director from 1992-2021. 

For 40 years, the MacArthur Justice Center has sought to vindicate individual rights, hold people with power accountable, and demand real reform in the criminal legal system. Today MJC has a staff of more than 50 attorneys, paralegals, investigators, communications, operations, and administrative staff advancing a docket of more than 200 cases across our five offices in Chicago, IL; St. Louis, MO; New Orleans, LA; University, MS; and Washington, D.C. Our Supreme Court and Appellate Program (SCAP) fights for civil rights and criminal justice in the U.S. Supreme Court, federal courts of appeals, and state supreme courts across the country. The program was honored in 2022 in Bloomberg Law as a Pro Bono Innovator. MJC has also recovered over $100 million in civil cases arising out of wrongful convictions. 

The MacArthur Justice Center worked with BoardWalk Consulting, a national executive search firm based in Atlanta, Georgia. 

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